John Lasseter Gives Luigi's Flying Tires a Test Spin

Disney-Pixar's own John Lasseter gave the upcoming Disney California Adventure ride Luigi's Flying Tires a test spin last week.

Learn more about the new ride and see video of John's test run after the jump.

Cars Land is now set to open in just six short months (give or take a few) at Disney California Adventure, and the new land is coming together rapidly.

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the land's installation of theLeaning Tower of Tires, and now Disney-Pixar CCO John Lasseter was able to test drive the ride located near the tower: Luigi's Flying Tires.

Created as a nod to Disneyland's Flying Saucers (which operated in the park from 1961 to 1966), Luigi's Flying Tires hover on a bed of air as they float across an "arena." The vehicles look like two stacked Fettuccini brand tires.

Once riders are safely inside their tire, a compressor pumps air up through the floor (think of it like a giant air hockey table), and the tire will begin to hover. By shifting their weight around, riders will be able to control the direction of the tire (similar to how a Segway moves) and will also have the ability to work a lever that causes the tire to spin (similar to the spin control on Mad Tea Party).

Here's a video of Lasseter and Imagineer Mike Kilbert, who also serves as the ride's lead engineer and designer, giving Luigi's Flying Tires a ride.